Monday Morning Intentions

Sometime I'd like to write a post about my sleep dilemma. I should do that soon.

But tonight I'm posting about how I WILL get up and work out tomorrow morning. I figure, if I'm putting it out there on my blog, I have to do it, right? I'm hoping that will keep me accountable, at least for tomorrow.

I always have so much motivation when I'm going to bed and setting my alarm. Especially on a Sunday night. The stress from the week hasn't started to consume me yet. I'm fresh off of a relaxing, productive weekend and I have such high expectations and hope for the morning. But usually my sleepiness takes over when my alarm goes off and I snooze through a workout. Sometimes it's not even a conscious rebellion. Occasionally it is. I make excuses in my half-consciousness that I get upset about later in the day.

I have taken a week off from working out as I recovered from a bad infection last weekend. It's been long enough. I start back tomorrow. Keep me to it, ok? But with love, of course. No condemnation, just accountability and encouragement. I'm hard enough on myself :)

Operation Cruise... OUT OF Control!

Okay, so as I'm sure you've guessed from my lack of posts, Operation Cruise Control didn't turn out to be as much of a success as I had hoped. While I wanted to lose about 20 pounds, I only lost 5. While I wanted it to last 12 weeks, I only stuck to it for about 5. There are plenty of excuses that I can come up with, but I won't. I just completely lost motivation. On the positive side, I DID lose 5 pounds. And I'm constantly learning what does and doesn't work for me as far as a "plan" goes. So I wouldn't call OCC a failure.

While I am now really hesitant to make any sort of strict goal or plan, I do have some motivational reasons for getting back in shape and losing weight. (1) I went on a wonderful cruise last week, where they fed me in 30 minute increments. And despite only taking the elevator once or twice (I walked a LOT of stairs) I still managed to gain those 5 pounds back. (2) I will be in a couple weddings coming up - Katrina's in March and Kim's in June. Now, I'm getting my dress for Katrina's wedding altered next week, so there's not a ton of hope for that one, but I have a while before my dress for Kim's wedding comes in. I'd like to make my seamstress work, if you know what I mean. (3) I am beginning a new routine. Starting tomorrow I am studying for my next exam (it will be in May). This normally would be the perfect opportunity to use studying as an excuse for not getting in shape, but I think that this could actually be a positive experience if I schedule working out into my new routine. I am already not going to have a life. I might as well get in shape while I'm at it. And perhaps the exercise will keep my stress under control, thus preventing my headaches from reappearing.

So. I need some accountability and encouragement throughout this. Especially since I don't have a set plan. Perhaps I will come up with one as things progress, but right now a plan scares me and I'm afraid it will do more harm than good. So for now, I just want to get back to exercising regularly. Please post comments, send me emails, or call me to keep me accountable. I really need to get in shape this time. For real. :)

November - The Month of Motivation!

Well, after a wonderful weekend at home (New Braunfels) visiting with family and participating in the sausage-filled tradition of Wurstfest, I decided to start November off with a new mind-set. I don't know what inspired my new found motivation - it could have been the awesome weekend, "fall back", the beautiful weather, the message at church on Sunday, or a combination of all of these - but I am proud to say that I am 3 for 3 on days I've exercised in November! AND not to mention that I SURVIVED Wurstfest, Halloween, and Terranova's Fall Festival (not the healthiest combination of events in one weekend) without giving into temptations! I didn't deprive myself completely, of course... I had some chocolate. But not near a "normal" Lesley amount! It's nice to see that this self-control is showing up on the scale! I have 4 days left and 1.2 pounds to lose. It's gonna be tight, but that 15 song reward is keeping me from giving up! Now for another dose of motivation... off to watch The Biggest Loser!

My First Roadblock

Well, within my first week of Operation Cruise Control, I hit my first roadblock... a respiratory tract infection! I could tell I was fighting the on-set of something a couple weeks ago. And with the swine flu and all the other crazy things going around this time of year, I made sure to take my vitamins, drink lots of water, and wash my hands frequently.

But somehow or another my until-then-amazing immune system let something by! I woke up Monday morning unable to breathe, swallow, or get out of bed. I went to the doctor to find out I had a fever and some kind of bronchial infection. Needless to say, I was in bed for two days (while the weather was gorgeous, of course!) and not myself the rest of the week.

I am still not 100% back to normal, but I'm close :) Today was my first day "back to the gym" and I have to say that I'm proud of myself! Despite the freezing, ugly, rainy weather, I got up super early and went down to our apartment complex weight room for 30 minutes of cardio. It felt really nice to be up while everyone continued to sleep knowing that I was doing my body good. Let's hope the motivation doesn't wear off as the week goes on!

While I was sick, I encountered a pretty popular question... is it okay to work out when you're sick? I even had this discussion with some friends. After a little bit of research, I came up with a general rule that most "experts" seem to agree on. I call it the Neck Rule.

Here's the rule: if your symptoms are mostly from the neck up (headache, runny nose, sore throat, etc) then it should be okay to exercise (but make sure to take antibacterial wipes if going to a public place!). It may even be helpful! But if your symptoms are below the neck (aching muscles, vomiting, nausea, chest pain, etc), it's best not to exercise. You definitely shouldn't exercise if you have a fever. And as always, but especially if you're not feeling well, make sure you are hydrated!!! If you're still not sure what to do, I'd say ask your doctor.

Well, here's how I've done so far. That big dip at the beginning was me getting sick (not my favorite way to lose weight!)

Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning – the use of consequences to modify the occurrence and form of behavior

Positive Reinforcement – when a behavior (i.e., losing 5lb.) is followed by a favorable stimulus (i.e., a small reward) that increases the frequency of that behavior.

It has been proven that setting small intermediate goals for yourself (no matter what the ultimate goal may be) helps significantly in the success of meeting that goal. I have made the mistake of not doing this in the past, and it made the goal seem daunting and impossible to achieve. So I always gave up early.

This time, not only do I plan on setting small goals for myself, but I am going to use the operant conditioning principles of B.F. Skinner to help achieve them. I have set concrete goals with definite timelines and specific rewards. I decided that I wanted each goal to stand alone, meaning that if I fail to meet the first one, I don’t have to work twice as hard to reach the second one. Otherwise, I may snowball my way into feeling overwhelmed again, defeating the purpose of these stepping stones completely! So here they are… make sure to hold me to them!

My intermediate goals and their corresponding rewards:

• Between now and my birthday (November 7th), if I lose 5 lb, I am treating myself to 15 music downloads! I can put them on my mp3 player to work out with and make a new mixed cd too!

• Between my birthday and Thanksgiving (November 26th), if I succeed in losing 5 lb (regardless of whether or not I met the first goal), I can splurge on a new outfit for the cruise!

• If I lose 8 lb between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I am allowed to buy some fun new makeup!

• And finally, if I lose 4 lb between Christmas and our “Sail Date” (January 10th), I can reward myself with a pedicure on the ship!